Festive Feast: Her.ie Talks To Kevin Dundon About The Terrifying Turkey, Perfect Pud and Avoiding Christmas Dinner Disasters!

Because we’re responsible for the mammoth feed that is to appear on the table this Christmas the Her.ie girls have been on the look out for any tips that can help us reach perfection and who better to ask than a professional? 

This week, we’ve been chatting to Kevin Dundon about the scary turkey and how to keep your cool in the kitchen.

What’s the key to the perfect Christmas turkey?

First all you have to buy the right turkey and you have to buy Irish. What I always suggest is you should rub butter and sage beneath the skin so that it will keep your breasts really really moist. Start off your oven at 180C for the first half and hour and 160C for the remainder of the cooking time.

Let it rest for about half an hour once it has come out of the oven just to make sure that all your juices stay in your turkey. When it’s cooked right you can’t beat turkey but when it’s over-cooked it’s terrible.

People think that it’s all about a huge turkey but it’s not. You should definitely buy a turkey that suits your family so that you have a bit of turkey for leftovers. Everyone loves leftovers. However, there’s no need to go crazy. It might not even fit in your oven. I mean I know people who have had to work miracles on their turkey, cutting it and cooking it for two days in different pieces.

We have a family of six for dinner most Christmas’ and we would buy a 14 pound turkey. By the time you stuff that you’ll end up with a 16 pound turkey. You’re talking 20 minutes for every pound. To me, that’s the ideal size turkey.

Christmas dinner can be so stressful, especially when you are doing it on your own. Do you have any tips to make it easier?

Supervalu have some fantastic recipes on the website to take the stress out of Christmas. You don’t necessarily have to do a starter for Christmas dinner. You can do other things. We have a great recipe for Smoked Salmon Gateaux, which is smoked salmon, cream cheese and pancakes layered which you can actually do the day before and leave them in the fridge. In our house, we don’t do a starter.

We always have dinner at about four o’clock and around at around twelve o’clock I would take out the seafood platter some cheese boards and pates and we kind of nibble on that. This tides us through to dinner and basically then we just have our turkey dinner.

Within the Signature range there is the seafood platter. It has prawns, smoked salmon and smoked mackerel and it’s already got your Marie Rose sauce in the centre. People just need to sit back and relax and think that Christmas dinner is a roast. I mean you might have your mother-in-law in the house but other than that it’s a Sunday roast!

Kevin poses with Danielle Evans and his delicious Beef Wellingtons

What is your favourite Christmas memory?

Everyone needs a Christmas pudding and in our house it’s very important. There was a tradition in our house that you used to find money in the Christmas pud but my grandfather was the only one to ever find money in it! He had to eat this pudding in order to get this coin, which he always did. However he used to have the money in his pocket and cough into his hankerchief and suddenly he would find the coins. Everyone around the table would get one then. Christmas is really all about the traditions.

Have you ever had a disaster in the kitchen on Christmas Day?

I remember I was working in a restaurant in Canada. I had just moved over and I was working Christmas Day. My wife Catherine was cooking dinner for all of her friends. She had just spent a year in France and although everyone was speaking French I copped what they were saying! She had left the gibblets inside the turkey! It was fine, they were it a bag. It didn’t stop us eating it. She was mortified.

In general, I don’t think you do have disasters at Christmas. Planning is essential. Just make a list and estimate your cooking times. Allow time for your meat to rest and just organise yourself. Two veg is absolutely plenty, don’t think otherwise and there’s no need to go mad with six different vegetables. My trick is to always keep things simple. Don’t try too hard or stress yourself out over it.

Kevin poses with Danielle Evans and Luke Darley

What is your ultimate favourite product this year to wow the guests during Christmas?

There’s so many beautiful products to choose from. My favourites would be Supervalu’s shot glasses of chocolate desserts. They’re very rich and amazing. I love the panna cotta with the raspberry compote and in terms of the main courses I love the beef wellington.

The full salmon prepared by the butcher has prawns within it and it’s fantastic. Literally all you have to do is put it in the oven and the lemon and the dill will make it taste fantastic.

There is so much to choose from. You’ve asked me a very difficult question! 

Do you enjoy Christmas?

Christmas Eve is the best day of them all. You’ve worked so hard on the run up to Christmas getting your presents and making your preparations and then Christmas Day comes and for me you just collapse! By the time New Year’s comes along you’re relaxed again and New Year’s Eve is always a good laugh. If you’re with people you want to be with it’s always fun.  

We’re having Christmas at home in Dunbrody with my wife’s sister and her husband. Santa’s coming. He’s very busy in our house with three kids. A real childhood memory for me is waking up on Christmas morning and feeling the stocking at the end of our bed and knowing that Santa had arrived. Christmas is all about the kids. Seeing their faces when they come down the stairs and playing with their toys is priceless. They are so excited.